Letters to Taiwan: Day 5

Leaving Hualien on the 12th of March felt like leaving home. We stayed just two nights there, but I felt used to the life there. Well.... The comfortable room was 70% of the reason why I never wanted to leave haha.

We said our goodbyes, petted the animals on the compound one last time, and took a walk around the area before we went on our way, back to Hualien Train Station.




I was honestly so in awe with the beauty that surrounded us in Hualien. The streets rarely had cars passing by, it was almost as if we had the whole street to ourselves. Mountains were also in view wherever you looked, and the was chilly but comfortable. It also didn't really rain that morning, much to our delight!



The ride from Hualien to Taipei city was about 2 hours long, and I was falling in and out of sleep the entire time.... Something about train rides just take me right to Snoozeville.



The Taiwan Metro was surprisingly clean! Living in Singapore definitely sets high standards for the other train stations and general public areas all around the globe, but Taiwan didn't disappoint. In fact, I would go so close as to say it is almost like Singapore. The route maps for the Metro was also quite easy to understand. We got from Taipei station to Ximending pretty quickly.


One of the worst feelings is staying underground where its warm, and then coming out to 12 deg weather. Complete with chilly winds, and a slight drizzle. But Ximending was beautiful nevertheless, we were finally back in the city! That meant there are toilets all over the place and we don't need to worry about having a full bladder haha.



Our Airbnb was pretty close to the Ximending market, about 5 minutes away. The apartment is also surrounded by quite a couple of convenience stores, a Starbucks outlet (which we never bought from), and a couple of Gua Gua Le stores.



The weather was, as usual, rainy. But thinking back, I'd rather have it be cold and wet rather than scorching hot. It made walking around a little bit inconvenient, but at least we weren't sweating buckets.

Ximending was full of so many stores, shopping opportunities are endless. If you're feeling for some Western food, there's Saizeriya, or some A++++++ Ramen if you're feeling more Japanese. As for shoes, Nike, Adidas, and ABC Marts (a brand carrying loads of sport shoe brands) lined the streets. We walked around for a little while, before sending Yong Jie home. He felt a little under the weather, thanks to.... well, the weather LOL. So he had to rest at home, while we continued walking around the streets of Ximending.

About the A++++++ ramen I just mentioned....... It was called Negi Ramen, and it was in the building that you'll see the gigantic Uniqlo outlet at. I forgot which floor it was on (was it 6th?), but their ramen is a MUST-TRY while you're in Ximending. MUST. TRY. It must've been one of the best ramen I've ever tasted, and I'm not even exaggerating. I went for the Basil Cheese ramen, and everything from the broth, to the texture of the noodle, to the taste of the chashu pork was.... heaven, to say the least. This is the only shitty picture I took, but Google it for more proof.



Here's the address to make life easier:
108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Hanzhong St, 52號6樓

Ximending was crowded, probably because we first visited on a Saturday afternoon. There was little to no space to walk around the walkway areas, especially with tons of umbrellas knocking us from all over the place, but hey, we were surrounded by so much shopping, so all was good.


And we also stumbled across this store called Mini Melts, which I knew I had to try. They were these little mini ice cream balls that we used to have in Singapore. I remember there being a little store in Lot One, many many years ago, before it finally disappeared and we couldn't find these anywhere in Singapore anymore... It was good to finally taste them again! I got the mixed fruit one, which I regret a little, considering I wanted to go for something more creamy. Maybe I should be less adventurous the next time and just stick to Cotton Candy haha.

We didn't take much photos after that, mainly because the streets were too. Damn. Crowded. After which, we went back home and chilled while watching TV before going to sleep.

Having nothing else to do besides resting and fully relaxing felt amazing.